Chemical Imbalance
by Jaden Silver
Summary: Project Freelancer wasn't the only group hoping to end the war. The UNSC funded many other experiments during this time, hoping to find the wonder cure to the Covenant problem. One such program was project Imbalance. When Imbalance's leader is also corrupt, it's subjects seek help from the only other people in the universe who might understand their betrayal; the reds and blues.
1. Chapter 1

"Are you sure it's them?" the voice crackles through my helmet.

"Pretty sure" I whisper back.

"But are you SURE?" the voice asks more forcefully.

"As sure as I can be" I say, irritated.

"That doesn't sound very sure." The voice in my ear sounds skeptical.

"What do you want form me, Nick? You know I can't be certain until I talk to them."

"And you know we can't risk exposure for a false alarm. It was bad enough the last time…"

"Hey, you know that wasn't my fault," I say defensively.

"I know that, Si. Neon should have known better. Nobody's blaming you." Nick sighs, and I can almost see the tired look on his face. "That still doesn't change the fact that we need to be careful. We can't afford to lose any more family."

"I know" I say, sighing as well. Losing Neon had been terrible, but the fact that all we'd gotten in return was some red nut babbling about a flag had felt like salt in the wound. Nickel's right to warn me, but I don't need the reminder. It's my family's ass on the line, too.

"So, what are they doing?" he finally asks.

"Not much. Standing, talking, walk a few steps, talking some more. It's kind of boring."

"They're not planning some secret cool thing or something?" Nick asks hopefully.

"God, you're such a nerd" I groan. "They're just standing around bitching about how all they're doing is standing around. It's not some great drama or something."

"When do you plan on approaching them?"

"Tomorrow" I say. "I've only scouted the reds and I still need to check where the blues are set up. It's strange. They seem determined to maintain separate bases even though they're no longer fighting each other."

"I guess old habits die hard" Nick muses.

"Those habits will die a lot easier once we get their help."

"You really think they'll help us?"

"They took down project Freelancer. I think it's a safe bet to say they'll sympathize with fighting a corrupt scientist hiding from justice."

"Still" Nick says, "after all they've been through, they might just want to move on with their lives. Maybe they've had their fill of fighting for justice."

"Tough" I say, gritting my teeth. "Whether they like it or not, they're going to help us. They have as much a stake in this as we do." There's no response. "What? You think Carbon will abandon us?"

"Even if Car remembers us, and let's face it that's a slim chance. But even if he does, that doesn't guarantee he'll want to rejoin. And even if he does, his friends might not want to follow him."

"We don't have any other choice" I say quietly. "We've tried everything else. If this doesn't work, you know what will happen to us. The UNSC will kill us all without a second thought. Some of us might be able to run, but not all of us. The kids certainly can't. Lico, Rubi, Franc. None of them would survive five minutes of the experiments they'd put us through. We have to find Doctor Han. It's the only leverage we'll ever be able to get."

"Alright, I get it. Geez, you don't have to give me the whole speech." Nick pauses for a moment before continuing. "Listen, Ruth just told me someone's trying to run a trace on the radios. I've gotta go before they figure out my position. Good luck out there."

"Thanks. Same to you."

"Don't get killed" he says half jokingly.

"Don't worry, I won't."

* * *

"I'm just saying, it was nice to have something to do for a change." Simmons says defensively.

"We almost died, and now we're stranded on some unknown planet in the middle of nowhere!" Grif nearly screams.

"Yeah, but you have to admit it was exciting. It was like being real soldiers."

"It was too much work, if you ask me" Grif grumbles.

"You say that about everything. I bet if you could find a way to survive without breathing, you would decide that was too much work too."

"Breathing does get tiring" Grif says wistfully.

"You're-" Simmons stops and turns around quickly. "Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"Something behind us, in the bushes," Simmons points to where he heard the noise. "I thought I heard voices and rustling."

"It's probably just a bird" Grif says dismissively.

"You don't know that. We're on an alien planet. It could be anything!"

"I'll bet you ten dollars it's a bird."

"How will we know if you're right?"

"Easy, if it's not a bird, then it's probably some big alien monster which will come out of the bushes and tear your face off, and you win the bet. If it is a bird, it'll stay in the bushes and we'll never see it, because birds don't do shit."

"That doesn't make any sense! Just because it's not a bird doesn't mean it's a monster. Like I said, it could be anything."

"Fine, then go over there and see what it is."

"What?! I'm not going over there! It could be dangerous."

"Then you forfeit and I win the bet" Grif says happily.

"I never agreed to that!" Simmons cries, indignant. "You're the one who wanted to bet in the first place. You should go check it out."

Grif looks at the distance to the bushes and shakes his head. "Nah, too far. That's way too much work for a bet."

"It's four feet!"

They both stop and listen for a moment, but hear nothing. "Well, whatever it was, it's gone now" Grif says.

* * *

I step out of the bushes cautiously, looking every direction to make sure no one can see me. The coast is clear. I sprint forward and hide in the shadow of the damaged engines. Hearing the whir of the machinery, I silently thank Yttri for thinking to make my armor radiation proof. I hope that the Freelancer and Sim-Trooper armor is as well. I hate to think I could have come all this way only to have them all die of cancer a few weeks from now. I see someone in the distance and focus the binocular feature in my helmet. Blue armor with yellow accenting. I check my files, but the only soldier listed with yellow accenting is Agent Washington, and his armor is supposed to be black. I look again and study the armor closer. It's hard to see, but there are a few subtle differences in the helmet and shoulders from what should be seen on a Sim-Trooper. He must have seen fit to repaint his armor.

Another soldier approaches Agent Washington and I begin to compare his face to the pictures in the files. Dark blue and clearly outdated armor. This must be the one they call Caboose. My heart skips a beat as I study him. Even with the armor, I'd recognize him anywhere. Everything from the way he walks to the scent drifting in my direction is familiar to me. This definitely confirms it. These are the ones I'm looking for.

A piece of their conversation drifts my way and I strain to hear it. I can't make out all the details, but I know they're talking about the AI and the other Freelancer, Agent Carolina, who used to be with them. Apparently, they both ran off without saying where they were going or what they were doing. Damn. I could have used those two, especially the AI. According to rumors he could remember everything that ever happened with project Freelancer, including all their questionable business deals. I need that information.

I shake my head. It's no use griping over something I can't change. I'll just have to hope I can track them down later. For now, I need to find a place to rest for the night. It's already starting to get dark, and I need to be rested and ready for tomorrow. It'll take a lot of convincing just to get them to not shoot at me, and I really don't want to get shot at.

* * *

**Let me know if I should continue with this or not. I know it's kind of a rehash of things that have already happened with the Director and everything, but I want to show a different group in a similar situation. Please R&R.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I would like to apologize in advance for the explanation in here. I know I could have said it better, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how. Please bear with me as the story does pick up the pace after all this talking.**

* * *

The next morning, the Blues receive a message from Sarge asking to meet them near the entrance to the cave. The Reds receive a similar message from Wash. I hid in the cave the night before to wait for them. When both teams arrive, they quickly realize that none of them had sent the messages.

"I don't understand" Agent Washington says. "If you didn't tell us to come here, then who did?"

"That would be me" I say, stepping out of the cave. I raise my hands over my head as each of them trains their rifles on me. "Sorry for the deception, but I needed all of you in one place so we could talk."

"Who are you?" Wash asks, stepping forward.

"My name is Silver" I answer.

Before Wash has a chance to ask me anything else, Caboose steps in front of him and stares at me. "Silver? Is that really you?" He asks loudly.

I smile and lower my hands. "Yep. It's me. Nice to see you again, Carbon." Caboose reaches out and hugs me with such force I think my ribs are going to crack. "Whoa, careful, Carbon. Not so tight" I say, squeezing out of his grip.

"Sorry" Caboose mutters sheepishly.

"Hold on, you two need to explain what's going on here" Wash says. "Caboose, you know this girl?"

"Oh, yes" Caboose says, turning to face Wash and the others. "She is my older sister."

"Hi", I say, waving while keeping one arm around Caboose's shoulder.

"Why are you here?" Wash asks. "And why do you keep calling him Carbon?"

"I'm calling him Carbon because that's his name" I say. I let go of Caboose and step back to where I'm facing the entire group. "As for why I'm here, I thought that would be obvious. I'm here to rescue you." I wait a moment for their cheers to die down before adding "and, I need your help."

"I knew it! There's always some sort of catch" Grif mutters.

"What do you need our help with?" Wash asks suspiciously.

"I need you to help me track down a war criminal scientist who's hiding from the UNSC."

"We just did that like, a week ago" Tucker says. "The Director is gone."

"Different scientist" I say. "Have any of you ever heard of Doctor Han?"

"Oh! Yes! I have heard of her" Caboose shouts.

"I know you have, Carbon. I was asking them" I explain to him.

"The name does sound familiar" Wash says after thinking for a moment.

"She was one of many working on the UNSC's Samson Initiative, the program they started at the beginning of the war to find a way to combat the naturally stronger and faster Covenant races. Doctor Han, along with the famous Doctor Halsey, Project Freelancer's Director, Leonard Church, and many others, was a part of this program. They each received funding from the UNSC for the research and development of super soldiers. In the end, it was Dr. Halsey's Spartans that won the war. Still, even after the war was over, many of the researchers continued their work. Dr. Han was one of the ones who kept working after the war.

Dr. Han took a different approach to the problem than the others did. All of them wanted to find a way to augment human abilities with machinery. Dr. Han wanted to augment humanity from within. She was a geneticist. She thought that if she could alter a human's genetic code to allow for capabilities like those of the Covenant, then we would be able to beat them. The process was a success, but the subjects she created took too long to grow. It was much more cost beneficial to put armor on an already trained, adult soldier than to raise soldiers from children."

"Wait" Tucker interrupts me. "You mean she actually grew genetically altered people to train as soldiers?"

I nod my head. "Yes, she did."

Simmons snorts. "It sounds like those comics Grif is always talking about."

"It's very possible that that's where she got her ideas from" I say.

"How is she a criminal, though?" Wash asks. "I mean, I can see the moral issues with what she did, obviously, but a lot of things like that were overlooked during the war."

I shake my head. "Dr. Han isn't in trouble because of her experiments. She's in trouble because of what she made us do."

"Us? You mean you're one of the people she made?"

"Yes" I say. "Sorry, this is all very difficult to explain and this is really the first time I've spoken to someone who didn't already know about it." I take a deep breath before continuing. "Doctor Han created us to fight the Covenant. We were raised and trained our entire lives to be soldiers. We were each created with abilities derived from either animal DNA or DNA from Covenant species.

"When Master Chief and the Arbiter brought peace between humanity and the covenant, Dr. Han couldn't accept it. Her family had died because of the war and she wanted revenge. Rather than telling us that the war was over, she told us it was finally time to use our training. She sent two experiments, myself and one other, to a Sangheli colony. Dr. Han told us we would be attacking a high value military target. The truth was that we were committing genocide." I close my eyes for a moment, trying to shut out the memories. "I realized what was happening eventually, although it was too late to stop the fight from happening. I had already killed so many before I realized we had been lied to. I tried to explain to the people there what had happened, but they wouldn't listen and just tried to shoot me. I really can't blame them, considering what I had done. I managed to get off that planet and went back to confront Dr. Han, but she wasn't there. She had sent all the other experiments on similar missions to mine, and then run. I guess she realized we would figure out what had happened, or she knew the UNSC would come after her.

"I waited in the lab for a long time. I had no idea where to go or what to do. Eventually the other experiments came back. They were all scared and confused. We told each other what had happened and decided our best chance was to run. We knew we would be executed for our crimes. I would have accepted it if it was just me, but I couldn't let he others be killed. Some of them are still children. I thought our only chance would be to find Dr. Han. Maybe then we could prove that this hadn't been our fault."

"Mom did all that?" Caboose asks in a quiet, horrified voice.

I nod. "She's done a lot of horrible things."

"What do you need our help for?" Tucker asks. "If you're so highly trained, why don't you just find her yourself?"

"Well to start, most of our training comes from books. Aside from myself and a few of the older ones, we don't have any field experience. It would be nice to have some real soldiers there to help us out." I look at Wash as I say the last part, knowing from the others' files that they might not all count as real soldiers. "But the truth is, I actually didn't come here for you. I came here to find Epsilon."

"What do you want Church for?" Tucker asks.

"According to his file, he's the memory fragment of the AI Alpha, who was created from Leonard Church, Project Freelancer's Director. Dr Han worked with the Director from time to time, and they even traded resources on occasion. I need information on a deal they made that could help me track her down. And the only one left alive who might know about this deal is Epsilon."

"If you have our files and know about Epsilon, then you've obviously hacked the UNSC's databases" Wash says. I smile sheepishly before he continues. "Why don't you just get whatever information you need from their records on Project Freelancer?"

I shake my head. "That won't work. The Director wouldn't have documented these trades. They were highly illegal."

"What could he have traded that he would be that paranoid about? The only information he was ever that careful with was stuff involving the AIs."

"He traded Freelancer tech for some of Doctor Han's experiments" I explain.

"And by experiments, you mean actual people?" Simmons asks. I nod.

"She actually sold people, genetically enhanced people, to Project Freelancer?" Wash asks in disbelief. I nod again. "Who were they?"

I jerk my thumb at Caboose, who's standing next to me. "Well, there's Carbon, for one."

"Caboose is a super soldier?!" Tucker yells.

"He said she's his sister. I thought that part was obvious," Wash comments.

"You can't have genetically altered people on your team! That's cheating!" Sarge shouts.

"We do have a robot on our team, sir," Simmons points out.

"And don't forget the fact that Simmons is technically a cyborge," Grif adds.

Sarge grumbles halfheartedly, having no decent argument against this.

"You never wondered why he was so strong?" I ask Tucker.

Tucker shrugs. "We always thought it was God's way of compensating."

"I don't think God had very much to do with this." I say.

"Okay, so we know Caboose was one of the experiments. Who else?"

Wash looks to me for an answer, but I'm not listening. Something's caught my attention. I slowly turn in a circle, sniffing the air while looking for any sign of movement.

"What's wrong?" Wash asks, raising his gun and looking around as well.

"I'm not sure" I say pulling off my helmet. My white hair falls down over my shoulders as I continue searching. "I thought I smelled…" I trail off as I finally recognize the scent in the air. At the same moment I notice the dot of red light on the back of the orange soldier's head. I tackle him to the ground and shout "Sniper!" at the same moment the shot fires.

* * *

**So, there it is. Next chapter will have more action, I promise. Please let me know if you have any ideas how I could improve this chapter, as I am not very happy with it. Constructive criticism is always welcome, and thanks for taking the time to read my story.**

**-J**


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone ducks down and tries to find cover. I check that the orange soldier is ok before dodging behind some rocks, dragging the Sim-Trooper with me. "Thanks" he says as he straightens his helmet and turns off the safety on his gun.

"It's Grif, right?" I ask as I pull a small pistol from my waist.

"Yeah" Grif says, looking around as he tries to determine where the sniper shots are coming from.

"I need you to do me a favor." I pick up a stick from the ground and hand it to him. "Take off your helmet and use this to lift it over the top of the rock."

"Why?" Grif asks as he pulls his helmet off.

"Just do it" I say, crawling to the edge of the cover. He nods and puts the helmet on the stick. "Okay, on my mark." I wait a few seconds, listening to the sniper fire. "Mark!" I shout. The helmet goes up and I peak around the corner just in time to see the movement of the sniper turning to aim for it.

A shot goes off and hits the stick under the helmet, causing it to fall and hit Grif on the head. "Oww" he moans.

I pick up the helmet and hand it back to him. "You should put this back on now. Thanks!" Before he has a chance to respond, I dodge out from behind the rock and into the cave where Wash and the others are hiding.

"Should I follow you?" Grif shouts after me.

"Yes!" Sarge says cheerily.

"No!" I yell. "Wait there until we can give you some cover fire!" I crouch down at the entrance to the cave and peek around the corner. There's a ledge on the side of the cliff where I assume the sniper is hiding. It's hard to spot, but I can see the barrel of a rifle in the bushes on the cliff ledge. I wave Wash over and point it out to him. "That's our sniper."

"Think you can hit him from here?" Wash asks.

"Probably" I say, holstering my pistol. "But if it's who I think it is, I don't want to."

"What do we do now?" Simmons asks. "We can't just leave Grif out there!"

"Sure we can" Sarge says. "One soldier is a perfectly acceptable loss."

Wash sighs, and I can imagine him rolling his eyes behind his visor. "Don't worry" I say, patting him on the shoulder. "I have a plan. Carbon!"

Caboose comes and stands by the cave opening with us. "Hello!" He says.

I recognize this as his go to response when he's confused. "Someone's shooting at us" I explain to him.

"That is not good" Caboose says seriously.

"No, it's not" I confirm. "But we're going to stop him. Do you remember when we used to play darts?"

"Oh, yes!" Caboose says happily. "I love that game! I am very good at it!"

I point to a tree on the cliff ledge. "That's the target." I then point to the area of the ledge where the sniper is hiding. "And that's the wall. Now remember, you can't hit the wall. Hitting the wall is bad."

"Okay!" Caboose says.

"Okay" I say. I climb onto his shoulder and crouch down, balancing by holding his hand. "Get Grif over here once he stops shooting" I tell Wash before squeezing Caboose's hand. Caboose stands up and in one smooth motion throws me at the ledge where the sniper is hiding.

"Whoa!" I hear the Sim-Troopers and Wash yell simultaneously.

A bullet whizzes past my head as I fly through the air. I reach out my hands and hit the sniper square in the chest, knocking him down. I hear Wash and the reds shouting and hope they got Grif to the cave. I roll to the side and jump to my feet at the same time as my opponent. Despite the fact that he's wearing a helmet, I recognize him immediately. "Gold."

He responds with a punch to my head, which I barely dodge. "Come on, Gold, talk to me. We can work this out." I say while continuing to dodge his attacks.

"There's nothing to talk about" Gold says, finally stopping his attacks.

"Let me help you" I say, taking a cautious step forward.

"I don't need help from a traitor" Gold snarls. He pulls a pistol from his belt and shoots at me. I roll to the side and aim a kick at his ribs. He sidesteps this and aims the gun at me once again. I kick the gun out of his hand while flipping backward, landing in a crouch.

"I'm not a traitor" I growl. "Mom lied to you. She lied to all of us."

"I don't believe that" Gold says, edging toward his gun on the ground.

I shake my head. "She won't let you believe it. She's controlling you, just like she did to me. She's using that chip in your head-"

"You're lying!" Gold yells, cutting me off. "She gave it to me to make me stronger, and faster" he says as he picks up the gun, "and better than you."

I pull a small knife out of my armor's sleeve as I back away, the gun still pointed at my chest. "Don't do this" I warn him.

"You're a traitor" Gold says, as though he's trying to convince himself. "You have to die." With that, he pulls the trigger.

* * *

**As I promised, action. Yay! It's been a while since I've written combat, so I had fun with this one. Sorry for it being so short, but I wanted to end on some suspense. Don't worry, next chapter will hopefully be longer and will be coming soon. In the meantime, please enjoy and feel free to review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, it's not b very much, but it IS longer than the last chapter, so technically I didn't lie. This one is a little bloody, but not too over the top. Please enjoy!**

* * *

I dodge to the side and feel the bullet rip through my shoulder. Ignoring the pain, I throw the knife at Gold. It sticks into the back of his hand, making him scream, and he drops the gun. I run forward and kick it out of his reach before tackling him to the ground. We wrestle like this for a few seconds and I can see blood from my shoulder dripping onto his armor. I know I won't last much longer like this.

Gold flips us over so he's on top. He punches me in my injured shoulder and I cry out in pain. He pulls a knife from his belt and brings it toward my face. I grab his wrist, trying to keep the knife away. I push with all my might, but Gold has always been stronger than me and I know it's only a matter of time before I'm overpowered. "Please" I whisper, hoping I'll somehow get through to him.

Gold's eyes seem to lose focus for a second. "Silver?" he whispers, pulling the knife back momentarily. Then he snaps back to normal and continues to force the knife down, harder than ever.

I can feel my arms giving in as the blade inches toward my throat. Just as I think he's going to win, I hear a long yell of "SON OF A BITCH!" followed by a crash. Gold ignores it until someone pulls him off of me and throws him into the bushes.

Wash reaches down to help me up. "I am never doing that again" he says as we both turn to face Gold.

I try not to laugh as I think of Caboose throwing him like he did with me. "Who is this?" Gold asks, gesturing toward Wash.

"Freelancer" I say, trying to put as much confidence into the title as possible. There's another yell and crash, and Grif stumbles to his feet behind Wash. In the distance I hear Caboose yelling "darts are so much fun!"

"I don't care what Sarge says, the Grif cannon is the worst idea ever" Grif mumbles as he points his gun at Gold.

Gold, realizing he's outnumbered and outgunned, hits a button on his wrist and fades from view. "This isn't over" he says. The sound of his feet running fades into the distance.

"Who was that?" Wash asks as he starts to look for a way down from the ledge.

"My brother, Gold" I say, sinking to the ground. "He's still working with Dr. Han."

"Are you okay?" Grif asks, coming up to kneel next to me.

"I'm fine" I mumble, head spinning slightly. "Just a little tired."

He notices the wound on my shoulder and gasps. "You're bleeding!"

"It's nothing" I say, waving him away and climbing to my feet. "I'll be fine."

"That doesn't look like nothing" Wash says, holding one of my arms to keep me steady.

I shake his hand off my arm and turn on my radio. "Nick, are you there?"

"Yep" he answers cheerily in my helmet. "And I have a surprise for you!"

"Get the ship and come pick us up" I say, ignoring his last comment. "We need to get out of here fast."

"What's wrong?" Nick asks when he hears my tone.

"Gold was here."

"Was he okay? Were you able to talk to him?" Nick asks hopefully.

"No" I answer shortly. "He won't stay away for long. We need to move."

"We are almost there" Nick says. "Just give us a few minutes."

"See you then" I say before shutting off my radio. I turn and start climbing down from the ledge. When I'm halfway down, my left hand slips and I nearly fall. I look at my hand and see that it's covered in blood, along with the rest of my arm. I think that maybe I've lost more blood than I thought before picking up the pace.

Once I reach the bottom, Wash and Grif come down. "Climbing sucks" Grif grumbles as he flops onto his back.

Wash waves for the others still waiting in the caves to come join us before turning to face me. "Let me take a look at your shoulder."

I help him remove the left shoulder plate of my armor. "Do you have any medical training?"

"I started training as a field medic before I joined project Freelancer, but I never finished."

"I guess that's better than nothing" I joke.

Wash smiles, but his face turns serious when he finally sees the wound uncovered. He tells me to sit before calling one of the other soldiers over. "Tucker, come here." Tucker kneels next to me and Wash places his hands over the hole in my shoulder. "Keep pressure here" he says. He then turns to Caboose. "Run back to blue base and get some medical supplies."

"No" I say before Caboose has a chance to do what Wash said. "Nick will be here soon. We need to wait."

"We need to stop the bleeding" Wash says.

"Whatever supplies you need will be on the ship. We can't afford to split up before it gets here." Wash doesn't look convinced, so I add "Gold is still out there. Do you think Carbon could handle him alone?"

"No" he says reluctantly.

"We just have to wait. They're almost here."

A few seconds after I finish speaking, I hear the drone of a Pelican flying in the distance. It gets louder and louder until we finally see it fly into view over the top of the cliff. It lands a few meters away and the back opens.

Nick steps out of the back of the ship, smiling. "Somebody call for a Taxi?" The older man asks.

"Nerd" I say, standing up with Wash's help and walking over to meet him.

Nick gives me a quick hug before noticing my shoulder. "You don't look too good" he says, concern in his voice.

"You're one to talk" I say, ruffling some of his grey hair.

"She needs medical attention" Wash says. "Do you have any supplies on that ship?"

"Even better" Nick says, pointing to the ramp he had just walked down. "We have a medic."

Standing on the ramp behind Nick is a man in purple armor, the UNSC medics' symbol clear on his shoulder.

"Doc?" Simmons asks.

"Don't forget me" comes a cheery voice from behind Doc. A man in pink armor steps around him to wave at everybody.

"And Donut" Grif groans. "That's just great."

"They were trying to find someone to give them a ride to this planet. Something about a distress call from their friends" Nick explains. "Anyway, when they told me their names I recognized them from the Freelancer files we'd stolen, so I thought I should pick them up."

"Told you I'd bring help" Donut says smugly.

"Okay, people, all aboard" I say, waving them toward the pelican. "You can catch up once we get moving."

"She's right" Wash says, climbing into the back of the ship. "I don't want to be around if that guy comes back." Everyone follows him into the ship, and within a few minutes we take off.

* * *

**Yay! Donut and Doc! I will admit, I do love both of those characters. I just had to find a way to bring them into the story. Anyway, thanks for reading and feel free to tell me what you think! (Unless you hated it. Then you can keep that to yourself. My self-esteem couldn't handle it.) **

**-J**


	5. Chapter 5

**Fair warning, this chapter is a little bit sad. Also, not as much action here as we saw in the last two chapters. Still, I like this chapter and I hope you will too.**

* * *

I watch Doc as he finishes patching up my shoulder. "That should stop the bleeding and prevent infection" he says a little uncertainly.

"Thanks" I say. He picks up his med bag and moves to a seat on the other end of the pelican.

I turn to look at Wash. He's been sitting quietly ever since we got rescued, watching Doc work on my shoulder. I know he still has a lot of questions, but he seems like he doesn't know where to start.

"Ahem" I say, pretending to clear my throat. Wash jumps slightly, but says nothing. "Have you decided yet?" I ask, keeping my voice low so hopefully only he can hear.

"Decided what?" He asks, also speaking quietly.

"If you're gonna help us" I clarify.

Wash thinks for a moment before finally answering. "I don't know. After everything we've been through, I don't know if these guys are ready to take on something like this again."

I look at the other soldiers sitting around us, nodding. "They're not exactly the legendary heroes I've heard of."

"Legendary heroes?" Wash asks.

"Oh yeah. After you took down the Director, everyone started talking about you. The Reds and Blues of Project Freelancer, soldiers for justice." I say it in my best movie announcer voice, and we both laugh slightly. "Of course, I started watching you long before that. I saw everything that went down with Project Freelancer, and I know that half the time you guys were just trying to survive."

"Why were you watching us?" Wash asks.

"I knew some of my brothers and sisters had been sold to the Director. I had hoped to find out what happened to them and if they were okay." I explain.

"Did you?"

I shake my head. "Their names were changed when they joined the Project. The Director never documented where he recruited his agents from, so I couldn't tell which of them were my family."

"Well, if they all got hidden as Sim-Troopers like Caboose, it'll be nearly impossible to find them" Wash says. "But if any of them were actual Freelancers, then I probably know them. How many were there?"

I think for a moment. "Three that I know of. There was Carbon, who you already know" I say, gesturing toward Caboose. "Then there was Zinc. I didn't know her very well, but I heard she became a pilot."

"Could be 479er" Wash muses. "She was the pilot who flew us to all of our missions."

"Was she good?"

"Yeah. Best I've ever seen, despite the fact that we crashed so often. She had a bit of an attitude, too."

I think about it for a minute. "It's possible. I'll see if we have any information on her. Do you know where she went after Project Freelancer shut down?"

"No, but I'd guess she got a job flying for the UNSC."

I'm quiet for a while, thinking about this possibility, before I continue. "After Zinc and Carbon, the only other one I know about is Manganese," I say. "If I were to bet, I'd say he was most likely to succeed as a Freelancer."

"Can you describe him?" Wash asks.

"Huge" I start, drawing out the word for emphasis. "This guy was built like a brick wall, and was the toughest thing you'd ever see. He went by Manny when I knew him, but his name was probably changed. He was strong, even stronger than Carbon. Not very talkative. He didn't like heights." I think a bit more before saying "oh, and completely bald."

Wash looks nervous when he hears this description. "Do you know him?" I ask.

"That… sounds like Maine" Wash says eventually.

"Where is he?" I ask excitedly. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"He, um… He died" Wash says.

My eyes drop to the floor and I clench my fists in frustration. "How? Tell me what happened."

Wash explains Maine was implanted with the AI Sigma, which drove him crazy and eventually turned him into the Meta. He tells me about how Maine betrayed him and tried to steal the Epsilon AI, and how the reds finally killed him by throwing him off a cliff. Wash hasn't looked at me the whole time he's been telling the story, afraid to see my face. When he finishes, he finally gets the courage to look at me. My elbows are on my knees and my head is leaning on my arms with my face aimed down.

"Are you okay?" Wash asks.

I look up and Wash jumps back slightly. I don't know what I look like, but it must be something terrifying. I can feel tears in my eyes. Even though I understand what happened and why they had to kill Maine, I still feel angry. "You killed him." It's a statement, not a question.

"Yes" Wash says, his shoulders drooping. "I didn't want to. He was my friend, and I think I was one of the only people in Project Freelancer who really knew him, but he didn't give us a choice. He was crazy. He would have killed all of us to get Epsilon."

All the anger inside me fades, leaving sorrow to fill its place. "He was my brother. He was the strongest of us. I thought if anyone could have survived Freelancer's fall, it would be him." My head falls and my shoulders begin to shake.

Wash cautiously places a hand on my uninjured shoulder, wanting to provide some comfort but not really knowing how. "He didn't have much of a chance. He was gone before everything went down. The way I see it, we didn't kill Maine, we killed the Meta. Maine was already dead, replaced by Sigma and Gamma and all the other AIs. Once they were gone, there was nothing of him left, just an animal."

We sit silently for a while before Wash speaks again. "You know, he talked about you sometimes."

I look up at him, surprised. "He did?"

"Yeah" Wash nods. "He never said any details, which I can understand now that I've met you, but he mentioned having a sister. He said he had a lot of siblings, too many to really count, but he had one sister in particular who was special. He told me he joined Project Freelancer so he could defeat the Covenant, that way his sister wouldn't have to fight."

I smile and shake my head. "Manny was always trying to protect me. The first time he saw someone hit me while I was training, he charged into the room and threw the guy into a wall."

"I think I'm still sore from that!" Nick calls from the front of the ship.

I laugh for a second before growing quiet. "Manny always took care of me. He was always there for me. When I was sick and scared, and didn't know if I would survive until morning, he stayed with me and kept me company." My eyes turn back to the floor for a second as I say "he was a good brother."

"You two were close" Wash says. It's not a question.

I nod. "We had a lot in common. He was the only one to survive his batch, and so was I."

"Batch?"

"Most of us were made in batches. There would be anywhere from twenty to a hundred in each batch. In the beginning, nearly all of them died. Their genes wouldn't be put together properly, and they would start to fall apart." I explain. "That's what happened to Manny's batch. He was the only one left. Dr. Han spent a few more years working on the formula, trying to perfect it, before making my batch, but it wasn't enough. We all started to die, one by one. The only reason I survived was because I was the last one to start dying. Dr. Han tried to cure each of the others and failed every time, but every time she learned from her mistakes. By the time she got to me, she had finally figured out the cure."

I stop for a moment, the anger and resentment showing on my face when I think about Dr. Han. Then my face softens as I remember Maine. "Manny stayed with me, though. I didn't know if the treatment would work and I was so scared, but Manny stayed with me and told me it would be all right. That was the first time anyone had ever made me a promise, rather than just telling me my percent chance of surviving. I knew it was a lie. He couldn't have possibly known for sure that I would live, but it still made me feel better." I smile sadly at the memories. "Manny always made me feel better."

Wash opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by Nick's voice from the front of the pelican. "Prepare for landing."

I stand and walk to the back door of the ship while I hear Caboose struggling to get his seatbelt off. "No, you hit this button _then_ push up" I hear Donut explain as he tries to help the blue-clad soldier.

"This chair won't let me go. It's a very mean chair!" Caboose shouts.

I smile and shake my head. At least he managed to find some friends while he was gone. I feel a thump as the ship lands and reach for the button to open the door. "Get ready, people. You're about to meet the rest of the family."

* * *

**Ooh... Are you guys ready for this? It's almost time to meet the family!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it. I'm trying to post as often as possible, but school and Christmas stuff is getting in the way (that, and the fact that I have a new book I'm reading, but I'll blame it on school still). Thank you to all who have reviewed, followed, or favorite this story. You make my days better. See you soon!**

**-J**


	6. Chapter 6

Some of the Sim-Troopers, as well as Wash, have taken off their helmets during the trip. When the door opens, I can tell by their faces that what they see is not what they had expected.

"You weren't kidding when you said they were kids" Tucker remarks.

He's right. Most of the people waiting to greet us are between ten and fifteen years old. A few look like they could be adults, but it's clear that Nick and I are the oldest ones here. At least, we were until the reds and blues arrived.

"Silver!" Three little kids run up and latch onto my legs.

"Franc, Lico, Rubi" I say each name as I detach the corresponding child from my legs. "Why don't you go help Nick unload the pelican while I show our new friends around?"

"Are these really them?" Rubi asks, looking at the Sim-Troopers in awe.

"Yep, it's them."

The three kids walk toward the Sim-Troopers slowly, eyes wide. Suddenly, Lico rushes forward and snatches Tucker's sword off his belt. "This is that alien sword! The one that only works for him!" He says excitedly, showing it to the other two.

"Hey!" Tucker shouts, trying to take the sword away. Lico dodges and runs behind him, still trying to turn the sword on. "That's mine!" Tucker turns around and begins to chase the blue-haired child.

"Silicon" I say in a no-nonsense warning tone. "Give it back."

The boy looks at the sword for a second. He then turns and hands it to Tucker, his head drooping dramatically. "Sorry" Lico mumbles quietly.

"It's fine" Tucker says good-naturedly. "Maybe later I can show you guys how it works. Okay?"

Lico smiles up at him and his mouth splits vertically down the center. Tucker looks surprised for a second, but quickly covers it up. I wave the kids away and they run off to help Nick.

"He's part Sangheli?" Tucker asks once the kids are gone.

I nod my head. "All three of them are."

I expect Tucker to say something more about it, but he just smiles and turns to watch the kids.

"He has a kid who's a Sangheli" Simmons explains while handing me my helmet. "You dropped this back when all the shooting started. I thought you'd want it back."

I thank him as I grab the helmet. I want to ask more about the apparent cross-species child he just mentioned, but decide it's not the best time. There are other things we need to talk about.

"Okay, before we get too settled in, we need to-" I start to talk, but am cut off by a girl a little younger than myself stepping into our group.

"Oh. My. God!" The girl exclaims, looking at Donut. "I love your lightish red armor!"

"Thanks!" Donut says.

"Donut, this is Platinum" I say, gesturing toward the super-model-perfect woman. "We usually call her Tinu. Tinu, this is Private Donut."

"It matches your eyes so well!" Tinu continues as though I hadn't even spoken, which is normal for her when she starts talking about fashion. "You know what it needs, though?" She asks.

"Lace" Tinu and Donut say together.

"Oh, I think I have just the thing!" Tinu says, grabbing Donut's hand and leading him away.

Tucker watches the whole scene unfold before commenting. "If talking about fashion can get a girl like that, then I need to learn more about clothes."

"You interested in Tinu?" I ask, looking sideways at him.

"She's like a model" he says. "The only girls I ever meet act like they want to tear my head off. She's perfect."

"You haven't seen her smile yet" I say matter-of-factly. Before Tucker has a chance to ask what this means, I call out "Hey, Tinu!" She turns and faces me from where she's walked down the hall. "Your hair looks nice" I compliment.

"Thank you!" Tinu says, smiling broadly to reveal an impossibly large mouth filled with razor-like teeth.

She turns to go while I look back at Tucker. He's gone pale and looks a little scared. "You should see your face" I remark.

Grif, who had also seen Tinu, asks "what is she?"

"If I remember correctly" I say, tapping a finger on my chin while thinking, "she is part crocodile, shark, and grizzly bear."

Grif looks around at some of the other slightly-off looking people in the base. "You have the weirdest family ever."

"I read your file, as well as your sister's" I tell him. "I don't think you have any room to talk." Grif doesn't have an answer to that.

I notice Rhodi talking to Doc and tune into their conversation.

"Most of us have developed very unusual allergies, due to our unique genetics. It's always a struggle to find medications and treatments that won't kill us" Rhodi explains.

"I know a lot about holistic and alternative medicine" Doc says excitedly. "I can show you, if you want." Rhodi agrees and they start walking toward the small medical bay nearby.

At the same time, Caboose starts dragging Grif and Simmons away. "Where are you three going?" I ask.

"I don't know" Simmons says, trying to pull his wrist out of Caboose's grip. "He said he wanted to show us something."

"I want them to see Mango and Peppermint" Caboose says excitedly.

I laugh slightly as I recognize the names. "Okay, but be careful" I tell him.

"This is gonna be so much fun!" Caboose says as he continues to drag the two red soldiers away.

"And remember, do not pet them!" I call after him as they disappear around a corner.

"Who are Mango and Peppermint?" Wash asks.

"They're the spiky cats" I answer.

"Wait, those were a real thing?" Sarge asks.

I nod. "Dr. Han made them to test a gene splicing technique. It worked, and ever since then we've had two cat porcupine things that tend to wander around the labs." There's a shout from down the hall where Caboose had disappeared. "Carbon never could figure out that he shouldn't pet them, though."

"Tucker, could you-?" Wash starts to ask.

"I'll go make sure he doesn't hurt himself too much" Tucker says, nodding. He sprints off down the hall.

I look at Sarge and Wash. I had planned on talking to all of the Sim-Troopers, but I guess the two leaders will work too. It might even be better to talk to them alone before discussing things with the rest of their teams. "Follow me" I say. I turn and lead them down a hall and further into the base.

* * *

**This might be my last chapter until after Christmas. I've had some family come to visit, and I want to dedicate some time to hanging out with them before they leave. Still, I'll do my best to have the next chapter ready as soon as possible. As always, let me know what you think, and thank you for the support and encouragement.**

**-J**


	7. Chapter 7

**So, yeah, I lied. I guess I can post another chapter before Christmas. Consider it an early present.**

* * *

"What is this place?" Wash asks.

"One of Dr. Han's secret testing facilities. She had a few of them hidden on different planets, out of the prying eyes of the UNSC" I explain. "We checked them all when we first started looking for her, but had no luck. She must be hiding somewhere she never told us about."

We turn down another corridor, and I gesture to some of the locked doors we pass. "We thought this place would be a good base of operations, since the UNSC doesn't know it exists, although it is a little bigger than we need."

We finally reach the room I was looking for and I usher the two soldiers in. The room's unfurnished except for a large table in the center of the floor. The table is scattered with papers, and floating above it is a holo-board with maps and charts and personal notes. "This is where we've been keeping all the information we have on Mom" I say, setting my helmet on the table.

I hit a button to close the hologram, and another to bring up some chairs from the floor. "Please, sit" I say. I myself pick a seat that allows me to look at both men while also having a clear view of the door. I think from Washington's face that he's noticed this strategic positioning, but he doesn't comment on it.

Wash and Sarge both sit, the latter removing his helmet and placing it on the table. I vaguely remember that Wash left his helmet in the pelican and make a mental note to track it down and return it to him later. I sit silently for a moment, gathering my thoughts, while Wash and Sarge shift nervously.

"Do you have your answer yet?" I ask finally.

Sarge looks as though he doesn't know what I'm talking about. Wash does, however, so he answers. "I'm not sure. I know Caboose wants to help, and I think Tucker will too, same as me. As for the reds, well, I don't know them as well." Wash looks at Sarge when he's done talking.

Sarge clears his throat before answering. "Well, on the one hand we just finished a big mission, which would usually be grounds for some leave time. But since Grif has already used up both his and Simmons vacation days for the next seven years, I don't think that will be a problem." Sarge looks me in the eyes as he says "the real question is: what does any of this have to do with us? We're not part of the UNSC anymore. Whatever happens between you and them is their business. What place do we have in this fight?"

I nod my head, absorbing his words. I want to shout; to call him selfish and ask if he cares about the innocent people who could die because of this. Instead, I keep myself calm as I speak, relying on the negotiation techniques I've seen Dr Han use while arguing for the project's funding.

"You're right" I say finally, meeting his eyes. "You have no stakes in this, and you have no obligation to help us. What I'm asking you to do will not be easy. Both your people and yourself could very well be injured or even die doing this, and there is no guarantee we will succeed. I have no right to demand your help, and I can't order you to do this. All I can do is ask that you help me save my family."

Sarge grunts a few times, trying to find his words. I can tell he's not used to conversations that don't involve shouting at someone. "Ah hell" he says finally. "We'll do it. We have nothing better to do, and I'd hate to let Grif sit around doing nothing when we could be risking our lives. Besides, we wouldn't be red team if we didn't dive head first into battle like heroes!"

I thank him before he goes to find the rest of his team, mentioning something about making Grif pet one of the cats. I watch him go and breathe a sigh of relief. Things are going better than I had expected, aside from the bullet hole in my shoulder.

"You might want to talk to them yourself" Wash says from behind me.

I turn around quickly, feeling slightly startled. I had almost forgotten he was there. "What do you mean?"

"The reds" Wash explains. "You should probably ask them personally. It's like Sarge said; we're not military anymore. We don't work for the UNSC and we don't have to follow orders. Just because Sarge says they'll help you, it doesn't mean they all want to."

I acknowledge this. I need everyone here on the same page, which means all of the Sim-Troopers need to choose this for themselves. Loyalty in a few is more valuable than any numbers.

"What should I say to them?" I ask.

"Just, be sincere" he says. "They're good people. Even if they don't understand what you've been through like I do, they'll still care, although they probably won't show it."

"You understand what we've been through?"

"I was betrayed too" Wash says. "I know it's not the same, losing a team as opposed to losing your family, but I know how it feels to question everything. I know what it's like to not want to trust."

There's a long pause as I consider this. "I never gave up on trust entirely" I say. "I learned not to trust mom when she betrayed us, but I never stopped trusting my brothers and sisters. I know they'll always have my back."

"What about that one who attacked us earlier?"

"That… wasn't his fault" I say quietly.

"There's something you're not telling me" Wash says, folding his arms. "What are you hiding?"

I look at him, studying his face. I'm still not certain if I should trust these people. Caboose says they're his friends, but I still have doubts. There's so much at stake. Still, I have to take the risk. It's the only way.

"I suppose I'll have to tell him eventually, won't I?" I present the question to the room.

A small, female voice chirps from the table. "Yes, you will. He can't help unless he has all the facts."

"As long as you're comfortable showing him, then I guess it's alright with me" I say.

A second, more sober voice responds. "I have no objections." This is followed by some static.

"Well, I'll take that as a 'yes'" the cheery voice says again.

Before Wash has a chance to ask who I'm talking to, a small holographic figure appears on the table.

"Wash" I say, gesturing to the table. "I'd like for you to meet Rho."

"Hello, Agent Washington" she says. "It's nice to finally meet you."

* * *

**I literally wrestled back and forth with myself for an hour about whether or not I wanted Rho to be a part of this story. I'm still not entirely sure of her for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being that the fragments were all guys and Alpha was a guy but she's a girl and I don't know if that's possible, but whatever. I'm rambling. Sorry. Anyways, I like her character and I think she'll fit into the story. Let me know what you think, and Merry Christmas!**

**-J**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the wait. There were a few things about Rho and her character that I needed to work out for this chapter. Also, I got some video games for Christmas, so most of my free time fell into that void. (Portal 2 rocks, by the way). Anyway, here is the new chapter and I hope you like it.**

* * *

Wash stares at the AI for a while before speaking. "Is this what the Director sold you?"

"Yes, along with a few suits of armor and the equipment needed for implantation."

"Why would he give you an AI? A few soldiers, no matter what enhancements they have, wouldn't be worth that to him" Wash says skeptically.

"I don't know all the details" I start "but I know Dr. Han was working on something for him. Some secret side project she would never talk about. It was codenamed Allison."

"Shit" Wash mutters, sitting down to study the AI. "That would explain it. He was trying to create her again. Did it work?"

"As far as I know, all the experiments were a failure" I say slowly. "What do you know about it? Who was he trying to create?"

"A woman. Someone he loved very much. He tried to bring her back over and over again, but it never worked" Wash explains. "I guess he tried to get Dr. Han to help, too."

Wash sits quietly for a long time, studying the AI. "I heard two voices earlier" he finally says. "Is there a second AI?"

The pink and blue armored figure changes to a deeper shade before speaking. "That would be me." She then turns a grayish white as the air is filled with the hum of static, before settling back her original pastel colors.

"She's broken" I explain. "The Director wouldn't give up any of the good AIs, so Dr. Han convinced him to send her three broken ones instead. It took her a long time, but she eventually got them to work, although the personalities are somewhat split."

"I'm instinct" the lighter, cheerier part of the AI chirps. "I am compassion" the voice changes again, becoming deeper and smoother as the darker form emerges to introduce herself. Lastly, the static-y form appears, but fades away without a word.

"We don't know what the last one is" I say. "She was more damaged than the others when we first got her. Even though she's mostly repaired now, she still hasn't spoken or given us her name."

"I think she's shy" Light-Rho says.

"You two should talk" I tell Wash. "Rho can fill you in on everything we've done up to this point to find Dr. Han, and you two can discuss tactics."

"What will you be doing?" Wash asks.

"I need to find the Sim-Troopers" I say, taking my helmet off the table and holding it under my arm as I turn toward the door. "It's like you said, they need to choose this for themselves. I need to get their answers."

"Be safe" Light-Rho says. "Don't stay away too long. We'll need to discuss plans with you" her darker part adds.

Wash waves slightly as I leave the room, most of his attention still on Rho. I notice that he seems nervous about her. I know from his file that his own AI malfunctioned and caused him some problems, but it didn't mention any details. I hope that whatever happened won't cause any problems later on. For now, I need to find the reds and blues.

* * *

Wash turns in his chair to face the small hologram. He didn't like the thought of it being so close to him. Any AI was bad enough, but knowing this one was unstable made it worse. _Whatever happens, that thing is not going in my head,_ he thinks, pushing his helmet more securely onto his head. _I've had enough of that to last a lifetime._

"Alright" Wash says finally, eyeing the AI skeptically. "Tell me everything I need to know about project Imbalance, starting with Silver."

* * *

I walk through the halls of the base, trying to remember my way back to the labs. I'm not sure where all the Sim-Troopers have gone, but I figure the labs are a good place to start. Carbon might still be there visiting Mango and Peppermint with some of the others. _Why did mom have to design this place like a maze?_ I think as I stare at a meeting of three different corridors. I close my eyes, trying to remember which way to go. _This is so much easier when Rho's with me. She never gets lost._

I finally pick the direction I think is most likely to take me in the right direction, and start walking. After a few minutes, I know by the smells that I've chosen correctly. There are the familiar traces of my brothers and sisters in the air, as well as the new smells from our guests.

Further down the hall, I see Nick walking with a clipboard full of papers under his arm. "You know, if you don't want people to call you an old man, you might want to think about using some less outdated equipment" I say, jogging to catch up to him. I try to snatch the clipboard out of his hand, but he's too quick.

"Old man or not, I can still beat you" he says, holding the papers out of my reach. Even with the height boost from my armor, he's still a full head taller than me.

I match my pace to his as we walk side by side. "What do you think of our guests?"

"They seem experienced" he says after a moment. "If what we've heard about them is true, then they will certainly be helpful to us."

"But what do you think of them, beyond ability?" I press.

"They seem trustworthy" Nick says. "I haven't spoken to them much, but my gut tells me they won't hurt us. Unlike the last guy."

I shudder slightly, remembering the blood in the back of the pelican after Neon's final mission. "Nothing could be as bad as that..."

"Actually, things could be considerably worse. But, I do not believe we'll have any trouble from these new arrivals." He pauses for a moment before asking "am I mistaken, or was that Carbon with them?"

I nod and tap the papers in his hand. "You can remove him from the missing list. We found him."

"That's good" Nick says, smiling as he pulls a pen from his pocket to write it down. "It's always nice to put something positive in the records."

My face drops as I remember the other change we need to make to the list. "Also, add Manny to the list of the deceased."

Nick stops and looks at me. "Manganese is dead?"

I nod. "I thought you overheard that while we were in the pelican" I say.

"I heard part of the conversation. I knew you were talking about him, but I didn't know why." Nick wipes a hand across his face. "Shit" he mutters. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later" I say, continuing down the hall. "I need to find the Sim-Troopers." I turn my face away from him, afraid he'll see my barely concealed tears.

"Si" Nick reaches out and grabs my wrist, stopping me. "If you need to talk about something, I'm always here. You don't need to do all of this alone."

"Thanks Nick" I say, pulling my arm away without looking him in the eye. "But I'm fine."

I hurry on down the hall, barely hearing him whisper "just as stubborn as mom."

* * *

**Okay, there it is. I'll try to have the next chapter be a little longer and I'll try to get it published a little sooner. Please, let me know what you think. As always, your reviews mean the world to me.**

**-J**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the long time between posts. You can blame my sister for buying me Skyrim for Christmas. Anyway, here's chapter 9 and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"What do you want to know about Silver?" Rho asks.

"Anything important" Wash answers. "To start, what happened to her. Why does she hate this doctor so much?"

"Dr. Han betrayed her. She nearly got Silver and all the other experiments killed, and she forced them to slaughter innocent people" Compassion-Rho says.

Wash shakes his head. "That doesn't make sense. If Dr. Han tricked them into attacking those people, they should have realized what had happened soon enough to not cause any real damage. You make it sound like they murdered hundreds!"

"Collectively, they killed over a thousand innocent people" Rho says sadly.

Wash sits quietly for a moment, shocked. Even at the height of his blindness while working for the Director, he had never killed that many. He couldn't even picture it in his head. "How?" he finally asks. "How did they not realize what was happening?"

Rho makes a small hologram appear in her hand. "Do you know what this is?"

Wash studies the object for a moment. "It looks like one of the chips the Director used to put AIs in people's heads" he says eventually.

"That's how it started" Rho says, the image in her hand dissolving. "Dr. Han received twelve of these chips. At first, she planned to use them to allow some of her soldiers to interface with me, although they would have had to take turns."

"I take it that's not what happened" Wash guesses.

"No" Rho says sadly. "She ended up using them for a very different purpose."

* * *

I stop around the corner and listen to Nick's footsteps as he leaves. _Keep it together_, I think, taking a deep breath. _You don't need a breakdown right now._ Once I've gotten control of myself again, I continue searching for the Sim-Troopers. I know most of them went to the labs with Carbon, so I get my bearings and start heading there.

I know I'm getting close when I hear the voices.

"I told you not to pet them" Simmons says, his voice carrying out into the hall.

"That guy who was in here before said not to even open the cage. Why didn't you listen?" Grif asks.

I step through the open door and see Caboose holding his left hand with his right. Three long quills are stuck in his palm. "They look so friendly. I just wanted to hug Mango for a second. I didn't think he'd be mean" Caboose complains.

"You could have at least left your gloves on" Simmons says. "That would have kept them from stabbing you."

"If I had left my gloves on, I wouldn't have been able to feel how soft they are." Caboose says this as though it's obvious.

Grif's voice rises in pitch with exasperation. "They're not soft. That's the whole point!"

"You tried to pet them again" I say matter-of-factly. The three soldiers, noticing me standing there for the first time, turn to face me. "Let me see it" I command, walking toward Caboose and holding out my hand. He places his hand in mine and I begin to examine the wounds. "It's not too bad" I say after a few moments.

I let go of his hand and stick my head out the door, waving down the first person I see. "Rhen, could you please take Carbon to go see Rhodi? He needs his hand patched up." The boy nods and waves for Caboose to follow him.

"I thought Tucker was supposed to be watching him" I say as I watch the pair leave, Rhen trying to stop Caboose from pulling out the quills all the while.

"He was" Grif explains. "But Caboose wouldn't stop pushing him out of the way to reach the cats, and eventually he got frustrated and left."

"Does Tucker normally do that?" I question.

"Do what?" Simmons asks.

"Give up and abandon his team."

"Not really" Simmons says.

"Normally if he gets fed up with something, he just goes out, shoots everyone, and solves the problem" Grif says.

"It's actually kind of badass" Simmons remarks.

"No, it's freaking annoying" Grif returns. "Every time we ever got close to beating those assholes, he always stopped us. I have the bullet wounds to prove it" he finishes, grumbling the last line.

"I had gotten the feeling you guys were tougher than you looked" I whisper to myself.

"Why's that?" Simmons asks, picking up the quiet words with his cybernetic ear.

"According to everything I know about you, everything in your files and mission reports, there's no way you should be alive today" I start to explain. "On paper, none of you have what it takes to survive the things you've gone through. Everything from the reasons you were expelled from the regular army and picked up by project Freelancer to your personality types suggests that you would have died long before the first time you met Agent Texas. And yet, somehow, you're all still here. Why?"

"Hell if I know" Grif says. "I guess we're just lucky."

I laugh slightly at this. "I could use some of that luck on my side" I remark. "Which brings me to why I'm here. I need to talk to you."

"What about?" Simmons asks.

"I went looking for you guys because I need your help. Things got a little hectic, what with the shooting and all, so I never really got your answer" I say, looking at the two soldiers expectantly. "Will you help us, or not?"

I expect their answer to be quick, either a yes or no, with a small explanation if they decline. However, that's not what happens.

There's a long pause, during which Simmons and Grif share a look. "I'm not sure" Simmons says slowly.

"Yeah, that's something we'll have to think about" Grif adds.

"What's the problem?" I ask, trying to hide the weariness from my voice. I had hoped to avoid some sort of debate with them.

"The problem?" Grif asks. "The problem is that we barely made it out alive the last time we did something like this. The problem is that we've been away from home for so long, I'm not even sure where home is anymore. The problem is that it's been more than a year since I've seen my sister, and the last I heard she was dead!" Grif's voice gets louder as he speaks so by the end he's shouting. He looks like he's going to continue, but just shakes his head and looks away.

Simmons picks up where his friend left off. "We've been involved in a lot of fights that weren't even ours in the first place. We've been lied to and manipulated, and even though we've survived, it hasn't been without some loss. I don't think we're ready for something like that again."

Grif seems to have calmed down while Simmons was talking, and he decides to speak up again. "I guess the real question is; what's this have to do with us? What do we get out of it that's better than finally being done fighting?"

I think for a minute, reviewing my options, before answering. "How about a home?" I offer. I walk to one of the computers in the lab and pull up some pictures of a beautiful, grassy canyon with two bases.

Simmons looks over my shoulder and sees the images. "Valhalla?"

I nod. "When project Freelancer shut down, the UNSC seized all of its property and began selling it off. We bought this piece of land hoping it would be a good place to start over, but I'm just as willing to use it as a bargaining chip if I have to." The two soldiers stare at the familiar landscape with a look that I can only assume is homesickness. "The UNSC has been selling property all over the planet, and new settlements are being founded every day. It's turning into a very nice place to start a new life." I stop talking as I realize that neither man is listening to me.

"Can you believe it?" Simmons says quietly, eyes still fixed on the pictures. "We could finally go home."

"Home" Grif says, as though he barely recognizes the word. He turns away from the screen and looks at me, his eyes daring me to tell him it's a lie. I simply smile and nod my head. If they can help me save my family, it's the least I can do to give them back their old home.

"As for your sister" I say, further catching Grif's attention. "We'll help you find her once this is all over."

"Really?" Grif asks.

"Really" I say. "I know what it's like to not know what's happened to your family. If you help me take care of my brothers and sisters, I'll help you find yours."

Simmons and Grif look at each other for a second before turning back to me. "Deal" they say simultaneously


	10. Chapter 10

"Dr. Han modified the interface" Rho starts to explain. "Rather than being designed to connect to a sentient AI like myself, she programmed them to be controlled by a simpler program." Streams of code begin cascading next to Rho, representing one of the programs. "These programs were nearly AIs themselves, but weren't copied from a base consciousness."

"What does that mean?" Wash asks.

"It means that they had no free will. They obeyed any order Dr. Han gave them without thought or question."

Wash begins to put the pieces together and realizes where this is going. "And she put them in these people's heads" he says.

"Exactly" Rho nods. "I'm sure you're familiar with how dangerous an AI can be when it doesn't listen to its host. You know how they can take control."

"Yeah" Wash says, rubbing his neck as he recalls the flood of memories he received when he was implanted with Epsilon. "I know what that's like."

* * *

I hear a high pitched droning punctuated by giggles and know I must be getting close to Platinum's room. As I near the door, the voices get clearer so I can make out the words.

"Then I dotted all the 'i's with hearts" one voice says. At first I think this is Tinu, but it doesn't sound right. It takes me a moment to recognize this as the voice of one of the Sim-Troopers, the one they call Donut.

I peek around the frame of the open door and see the two of them sitting on the edge of Tinu's bed, with pictures of armor designs and clothes scattered throughout the room. Tinu has a tissue in her hand and is wiping a tear away from her eye. "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard" she says, sniffling.

I step to where they can see me and lean against the doorframe. "What are you two up to?" I ask.

Tinu smiles and looks at me. "Donut was just telling me a story about his high school prom. It was so sweet!"

"And Tinu was showing me some armor designs" Donut adds. "My favorite is the one with the lace utility belt that doubles as a shawl."

I smile as I glance between the two of them, holding back a laugh. _It's like they're cut from the same mold_, I think. "I'm glad you two are getting along."

"Oh, yeah!" Donut nods enthusiastically. "Your sister is an artist."

Tinu blushes a little. "Oh, that's not true" she says modestly.

"Yes it is" Donut says encouragingly, reaching over and placing his hand over hers. There's silence for a few seconds before he looks back at me. "You know, it's been so long since I've been able to talk with someone about stuff like this, I'd forgotten how much fun it is."

"You couldn't have this kind of conversation with your team?" Tinu asks, surprised.

"Oh, no" Donut says. "I try, but they don't want to hear it. Those guys think this stuff is boring."

"Idiots" Tinu says, rolling her eyes. She and Donut then burst out laughing.

I smile as I watch Tinu. This is the first time she's seemed genuinely happy in months. I know she took it harder than most when mom betrayed us. For weeks she wouldn't talk to anyone except her partner, Nick. He told me that after the mission they were sent on, he'd had to drag her away from the battle so they could escape. She'd been in some sort of shock, holding the body of a little girl and crying, completely unaware of her surroundings. She still wakes up crying most nights.

Platinum had always been a shining star in the family, ready to do or say anything to make someone else feel better, but she hasn't been the same until the attacks. Watching her smiling and laughing like this, she almost looks like her old self. Her eyes aren't hiding the sadness or regret they usually hold. It's at this moment that I know I need to keep Donut here, with us. Even if he can't help the mission in any way, or he proves as useless as his records say he is, I at least need him to keep Tinu happy. I can't bear to see her the way she's been.

Tinu's voice breaks me out of my thoughts. "Silver" she draws out the word in a sing-song voice. "Hello? Anybody home?" She's moved from the bed and is standing in front of me, waving a hand in front of my face.

I smack her hand away lightly, laughing. "Knock it off."

"You zoned out" she says, a trace of concern in her otherwise jovial voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah" I say, dismissing the question with a wave of my hand. "I was just thinking."

"What were you thinking about?"

I ignore the question, stepping around her so I can see the pink armored Sim-Trooper. "I need to talk to Donut."

Tinu glances from me to him for a second. "Well, I need to get to the box anyway. It's time for the kids' training." She gives Donut a quick side-hug before jogging out the door. "See ya later!" she calls over her shoulder as she leaves.

Donut smiles as he watches her go. "She's really nice" he says happily. He then looks back at me. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I just want to make sure you're with us" I say. "That you'll stay and help."

"Oh" Donut says, surprised. "I figured Sarge would have told you. He came by earlier and said we were going to stay here until you didn't need us anymore."

I nod. "He did, but I wanted to hear it from you. You don't have to stay here if you don't want to. I'd rather have people who are loyal than people who follow orders."

Donut barely hesitates before saying "sure, I'll help."

"That's it?" I ask. I had expected that I would need to convince him, like I had with his teammates.

"Of course" Donut says. "You people need help, and we can help you. That's the whole reason I signed up for the army in the first place. I want to help people. Even though we're not in the army anymore, that's still what I want to do." He looks around the room for a second. "And this seems like a good place to start."

There's a pause for a few seconds as I let his words sink in. Then I laugh slightly and shake my head. "I cannot get a read on you people."

"What do you mean?" Donut asks.

"I've read your files, studied your actions, and I thought I had some idea of who you people are. And yet, each time I've spoken to you guys, you've surprised me. What is it with you people? Why are you so complicated?"

I had meant it as a rhetorical question, but Donut chooses to answer anyway. "We're not that complicated" he says, staring at me. "You just don't know us yet. You've grown up with everyone else here, so you don't have to think about what they'll say or how they'll react, you just know. But we're new to you, so we're not as predictable. Give it some time. You'll realize that we're actually pretty simple people."

I nod, thinking about it. He's right about at least one thing. This is the first time I've had to work with people who aren't my family. There's certain things I won't be able to take for granted with them. I'll just have to be careful.

"How'd you get so insightful?" I finally ask, feigning suspicion as I eye the pink soldier.

"Well, I grew up on a farm" Donut says. "There was a lot of time to think there. I guess I got pretty good at it."

* * *

**I had planned on having this whole "Silver talking to everyone" thing over with by the end of this chapter. Then I started to realize how long the chapter would be if I had Tucker and Doc's conversations in it too, as well as the fact that I hadn't posted a chapter here in a little while. So, here's this. The next chapter or two should be the last of this type, then we get back to action and plot and stuff. I just want to give everyone a good reason and motivation for being in this story. Anyway, please enjoy and sorry for the long note.**

**-J**


	11. Chapter 11

**It' shorter than I'd wanted, but it was taking me a while to get the next part finished and I didn't want you to have to wait. So, here you go. Please enjoy!**

* * *

"So, Dr. Han used these to control her people?" Wash guesses.

"Some of them" Rho says. "She was only given twelve interfaces, and she kept one unmodified as a control. The other eleven were given to her most successful experiments."

"Was Silver one of the ones that were implanted?" Wash asks.

Rho's holographic head bobs up and down slowly. "She was told, along with the others, that these chips would allow them to work better and react faster in combat situations. When they were sent to attack the covenant colonies, they thought these near-AIs would give them the advantage they'd need to defeat their enemy's greater numbers. When they began to realize where they really were, and that they'd been lied to, Dr. Han took over. She activated the programs that controlled the chips, and forced her experiments to fight."

"How do these programs work?" Wash asks after a pause. "Does it take full control of the host?"

"No. The programs are not advanced enough to fully control a sentient mind. Instead, they control the section of the brain that dictates belief and perception. When Silver began to realize that she wasn't fighting soldiers, but civilians, the chip took over and told her that this observation was wrong. It made her believe that the people she was fighting were enemy soldiers who needed to die."

Wash shook his head. This was hitting a little too close to home for him. He could still feel that moment when Epsilon's fears began to cloud his own perception of reality, making him see danger around every corner and everyone as a threat. To have that done on purpose, then to realize the truth only after it was too late; he couldn't imagine it.

"Well, they obviously aren't being controlled anymore" he says eventually. "How did they break free?"

I look around the hangar. At least I know where everything is from here, so I should be able to find people easily enough. If I knew where they had all gone to. The only ones I still need to talk to are the medic, DuFresne, and Tucker. I have no idea where Tucker is, but I remember that the medic went with Rhodi to check our stock of medical supplies. I decide to look for him there first, but before I do there's something I need from the pelican.

I stare at the beat up ship as I approach it. There's scorching along its side from plasma blasts, and dents along one wing from bullets. The image is made even more decrepit by the dirt covering the landing gear, and a thin layer of space dust covering the windows. _Good old bird_, I think, patting the side as I near the back hatch. I know it's an older model, although my knowledge of the vehicle is fairly limited beyond that. Still, she's served us well, and has managed to bring us all home more than enough times to earn my respect.

Once I reach the back, I hit the button and stand to the side as the door slowly flips down. I step inside and search the seats in the dark, hoping to find the one thing I'm looking for. Suddenly, I spot it. I pick the object up and carry my prize out into the light. I hold the helmet up to inspect it, and am surprised to see that it's brown, not blue._ I could have sworn Agent Washington's armor was blue_, I think as I stare at the helmet. I notice the wires sticking out of the bottom at the same moment it speaks.

"_Hola_" the helmet says.

I make some sort of squeaking noise and drop it. "_Oww_" the helmet says from the floor.

"What are you?" I ask, hand inching toward my gun. "Why are you a talking head?"

"_I'm a robot" _the helmet says, speaking Spanish. "_My body was destroyed a long time ago. Now I am just a head."_

I look at the head skeptically. "How did you get on my ship?"

_"You can understand me?"_ the head asks, ignoring my question.

I tap the side of my helmet with my finger. "I have a translator. Now answer my question."

The robot pauses for a moment before speaking. _"The pink idiot brought me with him when he went to help his team. Then he forgot about me and left me in the ship. It was nice, not listening to him talk for a few hours."_

I pick him up cautiously. "Well, sorry I dropped you" I say, still unsure of him. He could be a spy for mom, although a random robot head doesn't really seem like her style. "And that you got left in the pelican all day."

"_That's fine"_ the head says apathetically. _"I am used to being forgotten places."_

I scan the inside of the ship and see Washington's helmet on the floor in a corner. I pick it up and tuck it under my arm while still staring at the head in my hand. "If Donut brought you, that means you're from red team, right?"

_"Si."_

"I don't remember them having a robot" I say, stepping out of the pelican. "What's your name?"

_"I am Lopez the Heavy"_ he says, a touch of pride in his voice.

"You're not all that heavy" I remark as I step out of the pelican.

_"Things were different back when I had a body."_

"Well, maybe we can do something about tha-"

_"You're bleeding"_ Lopez interrupts me.

I look down and see red drops on the floor, and a smear of red on Wash's helmet. I sigh, switching the helmet to my other arm. I normally heal faster than this. I should be fine by now, and yet I'm still bleeding.

I look up and see Iodine on the other side of the room, trying to fix the hornet. I wave him over and hand him Washington's helmet and Lopez's head. "Give Agent Washington his helmet, then find Yttri. If you can dig her out from under whatever latest project she's working on, ask her to check if we have the parts to make this guy a new body." I tap the top of Lopez's head as I finish giving the instructions.

Iodine nods, then looks at my shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asks concernedly.

"I'm fine" I say dismissively. "I just need to go see Rhodi."

Iodine nods, his blond hair bobbing comically, before sprinting off to find Wash.

I watch him leave, then sigh again as I glance down at my shoulder. It really shouldn't still be bleeding. Oh well. I had been planning to go to the infirmary to look for DuFresne anyway. At least it won't be out of my way.


	12. Chapter 12

Rho creates another hologram floating beside her. This one forms the image of an alien gun. "This is the most common weapon used by the Covenant during the war. Humans refer to it as the plasma pistol. Every Covenant soldier had at least one of these, in addition to their primary weapon. They're sturdy and reliable, although they don't cause much damage."

Rho allows the hologram to disappear as she continues. "They were almost discontinued because of a design flaw. If the trigger is held down too long, it will cause the weapon to overcharge, resulting in an electromagnetic burst that can disable vehicles. It's actually this property that made them so useful in the war. When the Covenant realized that this worked on our own vehicles as well as theirs, they began training their soldiers to use the gun for this specific purpose. The UNSC forces even began collecting them to use again the Covenant. Master Chief himself has been recorded to use this tactic numerous times.

"When the war was over, many former soldiers kept their weapons as mementos, either to honor friends who'd died, or to celebrate that they themselves had survived. When Silver and the others were sent to attack, these former soldiers fought back. Some of them had these plasma pistols. And some of them panicked slightly, and held the trigger for too long, and accidentally sent an electromagnetic pulse through their attackers. At least, that's what happened to Silver. When she was hit, her chip broke and she was knocked out. When she woke up a few minutes later, she realized where she was and what was happening. She stopped fighting and tried to stop her partner, but he was still under Dr. Han's control. In the end, she was forced to leave him behind so she could save the rest of her team."

"Team?" Wash asks.

Rho nods. "All of Dr. Han's experiments were raised in groups of four. Each group contained two sets of partners, forming one team. Silver was originally on a team with Manganese and Carbon, but when they left she was relocated to another team. She, Platinum, Nickel, and Gold were all trained together from then on." She stares into space for a moment, remembering. "They were the oldest and best we had, and they worked together like they shared one mind." Rho's eyes refocus on Wash as she continues. "It nearly killed Silver, leaving her brother behind, but she had no choice.

"Only Silver, Boron, and Nick were lucky enough to have their chips deactivated during the attacks. The rest, Siler tracked down and freed herself. She helped Nick free Tinu, then returned to the base to find the others. Everyone else who had been chipped was still in the open, but the rest of the experiments who survived that day returned home. No one knew what to do, but Silver knew that if they stayed too long someone would come looking for them, so she led them to one of Dr. Han's secret bases. Then, once she was sure her family was safe, she went to search for the others. Many were dead by the time she found them, but she was able to save some, like Neon and Boron, as well as stealing me from Gold."

"She stole you?" Wash asks.

Rho nods. "Dr. Han gave me to Gold after he returned to her. I was supposed to help him track down and either kill or capture the other experiments. When Silver found me and Gold, she tried to deactivate his chip, but couldn't subdue him long enough to complete the process. She was, however, able to steal his helmet, which is where I was housed. Dr. Han had feared that I would try to override her control on him, so she didn't give me direct access to his mind."

"Would you?" Wash asks. "Would you have freed him?"

"Of course" Rho says, feeling slightly insulted. "I understand why Dr. Han is doing this, and I understand what she feels," Rho's image darkens slightly as she speaks, "but she's wrong. Revenge for her family won't solve anything. It will only lead to more pain. I've been in the minds of many of the experiments here, during training. I know them. I consider them friends and I don't want them to die. Had I been given the chance, I would have freed Gold and brought him here myself. Unfortunately, I was unable to."

* * *

I start to feel light headed as the door to the infirmary opens. I see Rhodi talking to the medic, but can't seem to concentrate on what they're saying. Rhodi sees me standing in the doorway and smiles, before noticing the blood dripping from my shoulder.

"Si!" he says, rushing over to me. "Are you okay? What happened?"

I sit on the side of one of the beds and pull my helmet off. "I'm fine. I got shot during the mission, but it's nothing. I just need a patch job."

Rhodi doesn't look like he believes me, but he doesn't question my words. He grabs some supplies from a cabinet on the wall and begins pulling off the bandage already on my shoulder. "This wasn't disinfected properly" he says, studying the wound. "And the bullet is still in there. Who did this?"

I glance at the purple clad medic. His expression is one of both nervousness and guilt. I remember that he's not really a medic. Just like the other simulation personnel Project Freelancer had used, he was only told he was part of an army. All of his training was fake. I know Rhodi will freak out if I tell him the person who fixed me up was untrained, so I decide to take pity on the medic. "We were in a rush. There was no time to remove the bullet, or worry about sterile equipment."

Rhodi groans as he pours some alcohol on a cloth. "Si, you know how dangerous that is. You need to be more careful, especially now. You're not as tough as-"

"I know" I snap. "I'm being as careful as I can be."

"I'm just saying you need to slow down a little" Rhodi says calmly, cleaning off a pair of tweezers. "You need to take it easy."

I look at his face while he gets the supplies ready. It's hard to believe he's only fourteen, looking at his eyes. He's already seen so much pain; been elbow deep in the blood of his own brothers and sisters while he's tried to save them. I know he's only trying to keep me safe. He doesn't want to see me hurt.

"I'll try" I say eventually. It's not what he wants to hear, but it's all I can give him. I can't stop fighting.

"Lay down" Rhodi says. I do and he starts removing the armor around my shoulder. After he's cleaned up the area around the wound, he places a hand on my arm and says "this'll hurt." I nod, bracing for the pain. Then Rhodi picks up the tweezers and pulls out the bullet.

My breath catches in my throat for a second as the bullet is removed. I swear, being shot hurts less than all the clean up. Despite my internal whining, it's over before I realize and Rhodi's already re-bandaging the wound.

"Thanks" I say, sitting up once he's done.

"Don't wait so long next time" he says, eyes stern. "The last thing you need right now is an infection."

"I get it" I say, trying to not sound annoyed. "It won't happen again."

"Yes it will" Rhodi mutters as he walks away. I try not to laugh at this. He knows me well enough to not be fooled by that.

I stand up off the bed, and am happy to see that I'm no longer dizzy. I look up and see the purple medic watching me nervously. "Need something?" I ask as I pick up my helmet.

He shuffles forward nervously. "I, um, thought you might want something for the pain" he says, holding out his hand to offer me some pills. "I know your supplies are low, but I had some in my kit and I thought you might need it."

I smile and shake my head. "Thanks, but I'm alright. The pain's not really that bad. I heal faster than most, so I should be better by tomorrow anyway."

"Oh, okay" he says. He looks like he wants to protest, but is too nervous to contradict me.

"It's DuFresne, right?" I ask, holding out my hand.

"Yes, although most people call me Doc" the medic answers while shaking my hand. "I don't know why, though. I'm not really a doctor, I'm a medic." He adds, as an afterthought "I guess I'm not even that anymore, not since Project Freelancer shut down."

"Still, you've got training and experience" I say. "That's one better than we've got here."

"Rhodium seems capable" Doc says. "He certainly knows a lot about medicine."

I nod. "But he's not used to seeing people hurt. He's not used to all the blood." I look at the younger boy across the room, trying to make what little supplies we have multiply by reorganizing the shelves once again. "He says he's okay with it, but I worry about him."

"I understand" Doc says. "That's one of the hardest parts of learning medicine; getting past all the blood and pain. But I think he can do it. He wants to, at least. That helps."

"He shouldn't have to" I whisper too quietly for Doc to hear.

"He's been telling me about what's happened here, what you guys have been through" Doc continues. "I know it's not the same as what was done to you, but I kind of know what that's like, to have someone control you."

I give him a questioning look and he begins to explain. "Before we discovered that we were part of a practice army, before any of us even knew what Project Freelancer was, one of their AIs had some, um, issues."

"What kind of issues?" I ask.

"Well, I don't want to say he was a bad person. I mean, given what we know about how he was created, it's perfectly understandable what O'Malley did" Doc starts, trying to explain what had happened without saying anything negative about the AI in question. "Agent Texas was sent on a training mission to the blue base in Blood Gulch. While she was there, the AI she was implanted with tried to escape. He could jump between suits of armor, and he eventually ended up in mine. He" Doc falters for a moment. "He made me do a lot of stuff; tried to make me kill my friends. I know it's wrong to say that I hate something, and I didn't really hate him, I guess, but I was glad once he was gone."

"I don't think I could be that forgiving" I say slowly. "If someone tried to hurt the people I care about, or forced me to hurt them, I'd more than hate that person. I'd probably kill him."

"Well, I've always believed that violence is never the best option" Doc says.

I consider this for a moment. "I think that, sometimes, you can't help the fact that there's going to be violence. All you can do is try to control who gets hurt, and make sure it's no one you love. In the end, someone always dies. That's just the way life is. You just try to make sure it's a death you can live with."


	13. Chapter 13

"It seems like the real problem here is Gold" Agent Washington says. Rho had told him about the few times they had gotten close to capturing Dr. Han. Every time they found her, Gold had somehow prevented them from reaching her before she escaped. "If he's the only one protecting her, then all you need to do is get rid of him."

"We can't kill him" Rho says sternly. "I won't allow it, and Silver won't allow it. He's not our enemy, he's her prisoner."

"Of course" Wash says. "That's not what I meant. I think we need to capture him."

"We've tried" Rho says tiredly. "We tried using a plasma pistol, but it didn't work. I think Dr. Han modified his chip with some sort of electromagnetic shielding. And we've tried catching him and bringing him back to base, but we can't. He's willing to kill everyone here, but we're not willing to kill him. It gives him a distinct advantage."

"But if it's just him, you should be able to easily outnumber him" Wash reasons.

Rho shakes her head. "Silver won't let any of the other experiments face him."

"Why not?" Wash asks in exasperation. "She could end this so easily."

"Gold was Silver's partner after Manganese left. He was the best agent here. Silver was the only one who could ever match him in battle, but their fights only ever ended in stalemates. She's not willing to risk letting anyone else fight him."

Wash shakes his head in confusion. "I can understand her wanting to protect her siblings. I get that. But this seems a little overprotective. Why is she so afraid of them getting hurt?"

Rho looks down at her feet. She's not sure if she should tell him. Finally, she looks up and begins to explain. "There was an, incident, before we found you. Someone-" Rho's cut off by someone entering the room.

A black haired boy who looks to be about sixteen years old is standing in the doorway. He stares at the AI on the table for a moment, expression unreadable, before turning his attention to the seated figure. "Agent Washington?" the boy asks.

Wash meets the boy's eyes with his own. Something about him seems off somehow. His stance and demeanor make him appear suspicious, as well as the fact that Rho has grown nervous since seeing him. "Yes" Wash says slowly.

"I need you to come with me" the boy says, turning to leave.

Wash stands, but doesn't move toward the door. "What's this about?" he asks.

"I don't know" the boy says. "I was just told to get you." He glares at the AI for a moment, before his face turns neutral again.

The glare doesn't escape Wash's notice, and he wonders what it means. What does this boy have against the AI? Could it simply be distrust, after having a similar program control him at one time? Wash isn't sure, but he knows he doesn't trust the boy. Still, he has his gun with him, and he doesn't think anyone here will attack him. It didn't make sense, not right after they'd rescued him and his team from that planet.

Wash turns to Rho. "I guess we'll finish this later" he says, before facing the door and following the boy.

The door closes behind Washington and the boy after they leave the room. Rho's image flashes for a moment as she activates her radio. "Nick, can you hear me?" she asks, her tone urgent as her colors shift sporadically.

"Yeah, I'm here." Rho absorbs the words rather than hearing them, the sound data from the radio flowing directly into her memory. "What's wrong?"

"It's Boron" she says. "He asked Agent Washington to follow him somewhere, but he wouldn't say where they were going or for what reason. It seemed" she pauses for a second, searching for the right word. "Suspicious" she finally ends.

Nick sighs heavily, and Rho gets a mental image of him running one hand through his graying hair. "Okay, I'll see what he's up to. Thanks for the warning."

* * *

I half walk half jog through the halls. Where the hell is Tucker? I've searched through the entire facility in the past ten minutes, and have seen no sign of him. Everyone I ask says they haven't seen him either. Since he left Carbon with Grif and Simmons earlier, it's like he's disappeared.

I eventually find myself outside of the box, our training room. I take a moment to look at the doors, and in my mind I picture the stone columns rising from the floor and the holographic targets I know lie beyond. It's not as advanced as our old one, which was entirely holographic, but it still serves its purpose. It has a similar layout to the ones aboard the Mother of Invention, since the Director himself helped design it. There are a few differences, though, like the anti-gravity settings and sensory controls, which mom added. I look through a window into the room and see Tinu training Lico, Rubi, and Franc. The kids are bouncing off the walls, literally, as they practice how to move in a zero-gravity environment.

I look up and see a pair of legs hanging over the side of the catwalk. The metal walkway is meant to give easy access to the ceiling's lights in case they need repair, but I also tend to use it as an observation deck for the training room. I recognize the bluish green/teal/whatever color of the armored legs and smile. I guess I'm not the only one who knows how to get a good view.

I climb up the ladder to the catwalk, and my suspicions are confirmed when I see the armored figure sitting there. Tucker barely glances at me when I walk up to him. He simply moves his helmet to make room for me to sit next to him.

I sit and hang my legs over the side of the walkway, my chin resting on the metal railing, and watch the kids. What was probably once an organized training exercise seems to have devolved into a game, as is often the case when Tinu is supervising. I don't mind. They need to relax and have fun sometimes.

I glance at the Sim-Trooper out of the corner of my eye. He's smiling. I wonder briefly whether he's smiling at Tinu, or the kids' game. I get my answer when Rubi apparently scores a point by touching the wall on the other side of the room, and Tucker claps.

"Looks like they're having fun" I say, watching Franc perform some sort of impromptu victory dance.

"I think the point of the game is to see how many times they can crash into each other" Tucker remarks as Lico and Rubi launch at each other from across the room, only to bounce away laughing.

I laugh with them, then glance at Tucker again. He seems harmless enough, but I'm still concerned. "I need to talk to you about something" I start.

"You don't even need to ask," Tucker interrupts. "My son's been working as an ambassador for years to keep peace between humanity and the Covenant. I don't want to let all his work go to waste. Besides, I can't just let the people here get killed" Tucker adds, looking at the kids again. "I'm here to help however you need me to."

"So, you're in?" I ask.

Tucker laughs slightly. "Yeah! Bow chicka bow wow!"

I give him a questioning look, but quickly shake it off. I probably don't want to know.

Although I'm glad he's agreed to help, there's something even more important I had wanted to talk to him about. "Actually, that's not what I came here to ask."

"What's up?" Tucker asks, finally turning his full attention to me.

I sit silently for a second, thinking. I need to ask this in a way that isn't simply asking 'are you dangerous?' out of nowhere. "Well, you know I have all of your files from Project Freelancer" I start slowly. "These files include how you were expelled from the UNSC and hired by Project Freelancer." When he doesn't say anything, I add "it says why you were kicked out of the army."

"I feel like you're trying to say something, without actually saying anything" Tucker says.

I sigh. "Do you know why you were kicked out of the army?"

"Dude, until a year ago, I thought I was still in the army. I joined the army, and the next thing I knew, I was sent to some shitty outpost, in a canyon, in a desert. So no, I have no idea why."

I decide to stop beating around the bush and just get it over with. "Your file says sexual harassment."

"Oh" Tucker says, looking away for a second. "Well, that sounds bad."

"Yeah" I laugh humorlessly. "It sounds bad. And since you're going to be working with us, I need an explanation. I'm giving you one chance to explain what happened before I drop you back to where I found you."

Tucker runs a hand through his hair thoughtfully. "Okay, I think I know what you're talking about, and it's seriously not as bad as it sounds" he says eventually.

"So, start talking" I say. I won't let this go until I have a decent answer.

"Back when I was in basic training, after I'd joined the army, I had this one Drill Sergeant. She worked us to the bone. Every day, she had us training like we were already fighting the war. She was a total bitch, but, like, a hot one. So, every day when training was over, I would try to flirt with her. I didn't really mean much by it; I just wanted to make her uncomfortable. You know, get back at her a little bit for beating us up so much on the training courses. One day, she said that if I didn't stop, she'd get me court-martialed." Tucker stops for a second, thinking. "You know, it's funny. Apparently she's the reason I've been through all the shit I've been through with Project Freelancer, and I can't even remember her name.

"Still, if it weren't for being grabbed by the project, I wouldn't have met any of the friends I have now. I wouldn't even have Junior. So, I guess it's alright, in the end."

I study his face, looking for any signs of a lie. His story seems reasonable, and I think he's telling the truth, but I'm not sure. Nick has always been a better judge of that kind of thing than I am. "Okay" I say finally, my eyes not leaving his. "I have no way to prove that what you've said is true, so I'm choosing to believe you for now. But I will be keeping an eye on you. If you do anything that endangers my family in any way, I will kill you myself."

He seems shocked for a second, then smiles and nods. "Yeah, I can understand that. If anyone tried to hurt Junior, I guess I'd kill them too."

I nod as well. I'm not sure whether I should be concerned or not with how well he took the threat. Maybe he's just used to being threatened by now, with all the fighting he's done. I decide to just let it go, choosing to ask him something else I'm curious about. "Junior's your kid, right?"

"Yeah, my son" Tucker says proudly.

"He's a sangheli?" I ask. Tucker nods. "How does that work? Is he adopted, or…"

"No, he's my actual son, blood related and everything" Tucker answers.

I shake my head. According to mom's research, humans and sangheli are supposed to be non-compatible. It took her years to figure out how to get the DNA to fit so she could make Silicon. "That's going to need further explanation" I say.

Tucker begins to explain. "You see, we met this alien dude back when we were fighting O'Malley. I never figured out his name, so I just called him Crunchbite. I couldn't understand him because he only ever said 'honk' and…"

I look down into the box while listening to the story. For some reason, Tinu and the kids have stopped playing. There's a small group gathered at one end of the room. I can't tell who all the people are, but I recognize Wash's blue and yellow armor in the middle of the group. It looks like someone's talking to him. I focus on the person speaking and suddenly recognize the black hair and nervous stance. "Oh, blargh" I mutter.

"Yeah, exactly!" Tucker says. "I mean, what kind of language only has two words?" He notices that I'm no longer paying attention and looks down to see what's wrong. "What's going on down there?"

Before I have a chance to answer, Nick peeks his head over the top of the ladder. "Si, Rho just called me. She said Boron's up to something."

"Yeah, I saw" I say, gesturing to the ever-growing crowd in the training room. "Come on, we'd better check this out." Nick drops down the ladder. _What could Boron be up to now?_ I think as I start climbing down after him.


End file.
